ALBANY – Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie torpedoed a bipartisan bill that would have commemorated the horrific Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The Bronx pol went to extraordinary lengths Friday to ensure that the measure would not make it to the Assembly floor for a vote, stacking a committee with compliant Democratic allies who’d vote to scuttle it, sources said.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Assemblyman Lester Chang, would have enshrined Oct. 7 alongside other days of commemoration in the Empire State, such as “Rosa Parks Day” and “Susan B. Anthony Day.”
Sources suggested that Heastie, the most powerful Democrat in the Assembly, likely didn’t want a bill with a Republican as its primary sponsor reach the floor for a vote — even though a number of Dems co-sponsored it.
“It shouldn’t be controversial just because I’m a Republican,” said Chang (R-Brooklyn).
“It’s ugly. It’s destructive. It’s hurtful for both sides,” Chang said of Heastie’s actions, adding, “And it’s important that we remember 1,200 victims.”
The move to kill the Oct. 7 bill follows chaotic behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded this week when Heastie permitted putting up a resolution honoring Palestinian Americans onto the floor before yanking it at the last minute.
The lower chamber’s ways and means committee also killed a bill by Assemblyman Ari Brown (R-Nassau) that would’ve required New York schools to teach about Oct. 7, in addition to making it a day of commemoration like Chang’s measure.
Brown, who is Jewish, accused the Democrats of “veiled antisemitism.”
“Albany’s legislature is rotten with veiled antisemitism, and their sabotage of my bill, A06557, to honor October 7th victims and fight hate, is proof,” Brown said.
“If this were a bill for the Black or Hispanic community, it would’ve passed with praise and fanfare. This isn’t just obstruction; it’s a vile, calculated betrayal of Jews as a minority, letting hatred win with their cowardly tactics.”
Other lawmakers piled on condemning the Democrats’ allegedly craven — or worse — motivations.
“It’s particularly disheartening to see a bill held for purely political reasons,” said Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Nassau), the top GOP lawmaker on the ways and means committee.
“These bills are designed to ensure we remember the atrocities of October 7, 2023 and help combat antisemitism, neither of which should ever be partisan or political.”
The Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by terrorist group Hamas and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza have roiled New York politics and exposed bitter rifts among Democrats.
The divide can be clearly seen in New York City’s mayoral race, where old-school Democrat Andrew Cuomo has presented himself as a steadfast supporter of Israel and its fight against Hamas.
Cuomo is the contest’s frontrunner, but Israel critic Zohran Mamdani — a Democratic socialist Assembly member from Queens — is nipping at his heels.
Many progressive Dems and leftists have claimed Israel’s actions amount to genocide against Palestinians. Pro-Israel advocates have said that stance is antisemitic.
One high-ranking Democratic Big Apple lawmaker said uniting over commemorating the 1,200 victims and dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas should be a no-brainer.
“There should be no controversy of a day commemorating the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust,” the lawmaker said.
The bill’s road to legislative purgatory began when ways and means committee Chair and top Heastie lieutenant Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Westchester) announced that four regular members of the panel would be substituted by other, “acting” members.
The four members included one Jewish lawmaker and another who res a district with a significant Jewish population, as well as Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (D-Brooklyn), would’ve voted against killing it, her spokesperson said.
But the spokesperson noted that Bichotte Hermelyn would’ve preferred the bill had a Democratic sponsor.
Chang said that he’d be willing to let a Democrat take over as the bill’s sponsor if it meant passing it.
Substitutions on committees aren’t unheard of, but the maneuver is usually made to spare a member from making a tough vote or when leadership expects some of its members to vote out of line, as happened Friday.
Several Democrats – Assemblymembers Ed Braunstein, William Colton, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Nily Rozic, Rebecca Seawright, and Amanda Septimo and David Weprin, who are all from New York City – broke from their party to support the commemoration bill.
“No one should use Oct. 7th as a political pawn. We owe the 56 hostages and their families more than that,” Rozic said.
The sudden switcheroo on the commemoration bill committee came after Heastie also put the kibosh on a resolution honoring Palestinian Americans, sponsored by lefty Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn), earlier this week.
Tens of thousands of such resolutions are passed by the Assembly every year, and are usually not controversial.
A copy of the draft resolution obtained by The Post indicates it would have read that “Palestinian Americans in New York are increasingly involved in advocacy, activism, and civil rights work, particularly related to Middle Eastern issues, anti-racism, and immigrants.”
Sources said Heastie allowed the resolution onto the floor with strict instructions for Gallagher to keep her remarks specific to it, meaning he didn’t want her to opine on the Israel-Gaza war.
But Heastie caught wind that that Republicans were going to call for a roll call vote — meaning every member would have to be recorded as voting in support or against her resolution — a highly unusual, if not totally unheard of move, sources familiar with the backroom dealings said.
Heastie then pulled the measure, so as to avoid any drama on the Assembly floor.
A spokesperson for Heastie did not return a request for comment.
— Additional reporting by Matt Troutman
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